The Loud's New Neighbor
by burtonfan422
Summary: The Loud Family meet a new neighbor that gets along with the family perfectly, actually showing interest in all of the kids' interests, becoming a close family friend. But, they soon find that he seems to be hiding something. Currently rated K , but that might change.
1. Chapter 1

The Loud family were all outside, doing what they most enjoyed doing when a small Uhaul truck pulled up to one of the smaller houses on their street.

"Looks like we're going to be meeting the newest neighbor pretty soon!" exclaimed Lynn Sr.

"Dad, you're not going to make us do all those extracurricular activities again after you meet the new family who moves in are you?" asked Lincoln.

"No son, we've figured out a way to balance your kids' time for that. Besides, there's a chance that this family won't be all overachievers," he told his son. Shortly after the Uhaul truck's driver got out and started to open the back, a van came up from the street. This van caught the attention of the entire family. It had an image of a wizard riding a hippogriff with a castle in the background.

"Ew, that is so tacky!" exclaimed Lola.

"Now Lola, don't be rude, whoever drives that might like it," Rita scolded her daughter.

"Reminds me of a Led Zeppelin album," replied Luna.

"Maybe the driver will _wiz out_! He he! Get it?" joked Luan. The driver did get out, he was younger than the parents, wearing an "Arrrgh" hat, he stretched his arms out, and they could all see his T-shirt.

"No way! He likes Ace Savvy too!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"Great! Maybe you two can join the geek squad!" said Lynn. The van owner waved to the family.

"Well hey there! Looks like we're going to be neighbors!" he exclaimed before walking over to the Uhaul truck.

"Does he not have a family?" inquired Leni.

"I guess we'll ask him when we meet him and bring him one of my favorite Lynnsagnas!" declared Lynn Sr.

"Could I tag along? I'd love to talk to him about 'Arrgh!' and Ace Savvy!" inquired Lincoln.

"I'd like to come along as well and find out where he got that rockin' ride!" added Luna.

"Well, I guess there's no reason for all of us not to go," suggested Rita.

"Mom, I literally do not want to find myself immersed in all of that stuff Lincoln is into," complained Lori.

"Would you rather be immersed in the total void of the underworld?" offered Lucy.

"Pass," said Lori nervously. Later that day, the family went up to the house of the new neighbor, Luna carrying Lily, Rita rang the doorbell and the new neighbor answered.

"Hey! You're the family from across the street! Looks like I get to meet all of you!" he exclaimed.

"We just wanted to drop off one of my famous 'Lynnsagnas' as our way of saying welcome to the neighborhood! Also, my kids wanted to meet you because they thought your van was cool. But I understand, you've probably got a lot of unpacking to do," replied Lynn.

"Oh yes, I've got a significant amount of unpacking to do, but I can spare some time to meet the new neighbors, I'll just put that in the fridge for later, thanks very much! Please come in!" he replied. Indeed, there were a decent number of boxes laying all over the floor and posters leaned up against the wall, waiting to be hung. The furniture had to have come from a thrift shop at some point. When their new neighbor returned from the kitchen, he was still beaming.

"I didn't get a chance to introduce myself. My name is Vincent Owens. My friends call me Vinny. But I understand if the kids want to call me Mr. Owens. He shook hands with each of the family members as they introduced themselves, Lisa noticed he had a band-aid on his right index finger.

"Oh yes, bit of a nasty accident while unpacking knives, gotta make sure they're all facing the same way!" Vinny replied. He then allowed Lily to grab his pointer finger.

"That little one has a strong grip!" he laughed. Luna then noticed something about one of his posters.

"You like the Who?" she asked, pointing at it.

"Who?" asked Leni.

"That's the band name, and yes I do," he replied.

"What's the name of the band?" asked Leni, confused as always.

"Who is the name of the band!" said Luna angrily.

"But that's what I'm asking!" replied Leni. Vinny rushed over to grab the poster and brought it right up to Leni's face.

"Okay, before we turn this into an Abbot and Costello routine, this is literally the band name, what you're reading on the poster," he said, trying very hard not to sound angry.

"Oh, hey what's with all the writing on it?" asked Leni.

"I got the signed poster at one of their concerts," exclaimed Vinny proudly. Luna's eyes went wide with interest as she stepped over to get a better look at the poster, she pointed at Vinny, and as if there was some kind of power guiding them, they started singing together.

 _Well since I was a young boy_

 _I played the silver ball_

 _From Soho down to Brighton_

 _I must have played them all_

 _But I ain't seen nothing like him_

 _In any amusement hall_

 _That deaf, dumb, blind kid_

 _Sure plays a mean pinball!_

The two of them fist-bumped each other as Vinny set his poster back down. Lincoln then noticed a poster that had his interest.

"You're into _King of the Rings_ as well!" he exclaimed.

"You bet I am. I have the extended edition with all the bonus features, a book that details the untold stories about the making of the movie, and I've even met some of the cast members, I'll show you the autographs and photos sometime!" Vinny exclaimed proudly. Lana went over to what she thought was an empty bookcase, but instead found a tank with:

"Oh cool! You've got a bearded dragon!" she exclaimed. Vinny walked over, and looked at the tank she was examining.

"Yup, would you like to hold him, his name's Charles," offered Vinny.

"Our dog's name is Charles! And yes, I would!" Vinny took the lizard out of his tank and carefully handed him to Lana, who gently petted the creature down the back.

"She handles icky creature all the time, this is easy for her," said Lola.

"Lola, don't call Mr. Owens' lizard icky, it's not polite," Rita scolded her daughter.

"Oh, that's alright, some people just don't have the proper appreciation for reptiles, they require a special kind of love," said Vinny holding his hand up.

"Kind of like vampires," said a voice that caused poor Vinny to jump out of his skin, he turned around to see Lucy.

"Well you're a slippery individual, aren't you? Y'know, you look like someone who might enjoy something I have," said Vinny, reaching into a box labeled 'BOOKS.'

"Well, what do you know, first try and there it is!" he said as he pulled out a book that was entitled 'V is for Vampire.'

"Has all these amazing facts about the history of vampires in film, novels and culture. Maybe you'd like to borrow it?" he offered to Lucy. She just smiled, nodded and accepted the book.

"So, what do you do for a living? If you don't mind me asking?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"I'm a radio disc jockey. Got myself a sweet gig at the local station, and well, I pulled up root and moved here," he answered proudly.

"Do you have any family?" asked Lori. Here Vinny looked puzzled.

"Do you mean family as in a wife and kids? No. Although, I have my parents, and my two older brothers who have their own families," he replied, scratching his goatee.

"Well that's fun! You're an uncle!" exclaimed Rita happily.

"What was it like, growing up with two older brothers?" Lincoln asked, everyone seemed taken aback, especially because Lincoln actually sounded nervous when he said that.

"They were my heroes growing up! I looked up to them, in fact, a lot of the stuff I'm into right now, I actually owe to the fact that they introduced it to me in the first place," said Vinny happily.

"So, are you, with the obvious exception of your brother's children, the baby of the family?" asked Lori. Once again, Vinny seemed to take a moment to find the right words for that question.

"Well, I can honestly say I am the youngest brother," he replied. Everyone nodded in content.

"Where'd you get the van?" asked Luan.

"Oh, I bought that at a charity auction, thought it looked cool, I daresay I got a sweet deal on that ride, but don't you go falling in love with it now," answered Vinny. He then noticed Luan's braces.

"I remember when I had braces, I really missed popcorn for those three years. My orthodontist was overly pleased with how well I took care of them, and I was exceedingly careful with what I ate. This one time at Disney World, my mom thought it's be fun to take us to get caramel apples, but when I pointed out how bad they were for my braces, my dad had to take me next door for ice cream," he said.

"Wow! You really took a _bite_ on that one! That's the _tooth_!" Get it?" Luan laughed.

"That pun never gets old! Put'er there!" he said as he shook Luan's hand, only for Luan to find out her hand was getting buzzed!

"The hand buzzer! Another classic that never gets old!" he laughed.

"Well, I think we've taken enough of your time, c'mon kids, I think we should let Mr. Owens finish his unpacking. You can talk to him another time," said Rita as she led everybody out. Lana making sure to return Charles the bearded dragon.

"He seems like a nice guy, I think we might get along with him," said Leni as they left.

"But the way he said he was the youngest brother, oh never mind, I'm probably trying to read too much into nothing!" said Lori.


	2. Chapter 2

Weeks went by as they often did and already, Vinny had become good friends with the Loud family. He, Lincoln and Lincoln's closest friends regularly talked about 'King of the Rings,' Ace Savvy and 'Arrrgh!' He helped to teach the twins how to draw better, even allowing Lana to place her rattlesnake on his arm on different occasions. He also taught Lynn a few games he had learned at Boy Scout camp. He sometimes allowed Lucy and her 'creepy' friends hang out at his place to watch horror movies. He had a great collection of them from the '80's, the '50's, and even the Universal classics.

Anytime he came over to the family's home, he would often share photographs of his niece and nephews with the parents. Along with other photos such as his own relatives. They enjoyed getting to see images of his family, and would in return share their children's baby photos, much to the kids' chagrin.

One time, he allowed Luna to perform live on his radio station.

"Alright, we've got local music sensation, Ms. Luna Loud performing for us live! Sure, hope you enjoy it!" he announced as Luna and her band mates then began jamming. They managed to sell not a few copies of their album because of that live radio show to the local public. Luna was extremely grateful for that.

One time, Lynn got herself badly injured on the lacrosse field, actually breaking a few bones in her arm and leg. Not wanting the four youngest members of the family to run loose at the hospital, Rita and Lynn Sr. left them with Vinny. When the family came to pick them up, they found the four of them sleeping peacefully on Vinny's couch together with a Star Wars blanket draped over them.

Another time Luan and Lincoln needed to go to a birthday party that was on the other side of town. Unfortunately, the rest of the family were headed to one of sLola's pageant and needed Vanzilla. Vinny was more than happy to drive them over in his van. When they told him that it was science fiction themed, he immediately grabbed a Tusken Raider costume he had, and when the two kids got out, he changed into the costume in the privacy of the van, and stepped out, perfectly in character. Allowing the kids to get their pictures with him.

"Doesn't it get warm in that costume?" asked a curious Lincoln as they drove back to the neighborhood.

"Only on the really hot days, but it's worth it to make the kids happy. The best results are when you visit the Children's Hospital, fills the heart with joy it does," replied Vinny.

"I think it's a _sand_ tastic costume! Get it? Because they're known as the Sand People?" piped up Luan.

"Hate to break it to you, but, one of your best puns, that was not," Vinny answered in a Yoda impersonation. Lincoln laughed at that. When they got to his house, he left them in the counter with the birthday cake they received, offering to get them something to drink after he put up the costume so it could air out. Lincoln noticed a small photo album on the coffee table that had a skeleton on it that was labeled 'Halloween Memories.' He picked it up.

"Think it would be alright to page through this?" he asked Luan.

"Hey, you leave something on the coffee table, automatically, it's open to everyone," she replied. So, they opened it, finding the first photo to be a little baby wearing a bumblebee costume, they giggled. Paging through it, they quickly realized that these were photos of Vinny on Halloween, just about every year of his life. There was one of him dressed as Grumpy from 'Snow White' with a teenager they recognized as one of his brothers because of photographs he had shared with them. Another, he was dressed as a ninja with other kids in high school, probably neighborhood friends.

But there was something odd about some of the pictures. Not a few of them seemed to be too small for their transparent holders. Looking at one where he appeared to be in middle school, wearing a wizard costume, Luan noticed the photograph itself appeared bent. Very carefully, she removed the photograph and unfolding it, they saw he was actually standing next to a girl wearing a pirate costume.

"Who do you suppose that was? Another sibling perhaps?" Luan asked her brother.

"I can't be sure, he's never said anything about having a sister. Maybe an ex-girlfriend? That would explain why he hid her face," suggested Lincoln. They paged back a little, looking at a picture of Vinny wearing camouflage when he would've been around Lucy's age, and pulled that out, and unfolding it, they found the girl again, wearing a luau costume.

"Perhaps a neighborhood kid? Who turned against him in middle school?" suggested Lincoln. Then they heard Vinny coming in, they stashed the photographs into their sleeves and set the album down. He was carrying three glasses of milk.

"This will help ensure the cake goes down smoothly, oh I see you were checking out the Halloween photos. Yeah, Halloween's one of my favorite times of the year so I like to keep a record of the costumes I wore. The different costumes and age progression show how much one changes too," he said calmly. Luan and Lincoln nodded nervously.

"Are you two alright? You suddenly seem tense," he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, we were looking through your photos, yes, but we couldn't help but notice, uh, did you have a girlfriend that you actually went trick-or-treating with?" asked Lincoln.

"I beg your pardon?" Vincent asked, he appeared irritated. Luan quickly grabbed the photo and showed off the ninja photo.

"Oh that, no I wouldn't exactly say that. One of those kids lived on my neighborhood and she invited two other friends from our school to trick-or-treat at our neighborhood. We would always hit three streets growing up, boy was that a haul!" he laughed.

"So, you were just neighborhood friends?" asked Luan.

"Well, it took a freshman year of high school for us to actually become friends, prior to that we were just acquaintances, and not really close," he replied as he handed the kids their milk and began to divide up the cake slices. Lincoln and Luan didn't say anything, they were afraid of offending their family friend, or embarrass him. But as they left, Lincoln looked over his shoulder.

He saw Vincent open the photo album, page through it briefly and then stop. Lincoln hated to think which picture he was looking at, but Vincent just looked at the two kids with a bit of suspicion. When the rest of the family came home, Lincoln and Luan approached their parents.

"Mom, Dad? Could we talk to you and Lori in private?" asked Lincoln, even though he knew in a family that big, privacy was difficult. But he wasn't sure if this was something the rest of the family, especially the younger ones, should really listen in to.

"Of course, honey," replied Rita who handed Lily over to Luna, after they got Lori, the five of them went into the parents' bedroom and stood in a circle.

"So, what's eating you two?" asked Lynn Sr.

"Well, we were over at Mr. Owens' place, and we looked through a photo album he had, and well, this just seems strange but I think there's something about him that he's not telling us," said Lincoln.

"Lincoln, he didn't have something that wasn't appropriate for children in that album, did he?" asked a now suspicious Rita.

"Oh no, no, no! Nothing like that! They were a collection of Halloween photos from when he was a kid!" exclaimed Luan.

"Okay, if he dressed up as a princess when he was five, that doesn't prove anything. Plenty of young boys don't understand the difference between boy costumes and girl costumes," said Lori with a smile.

"Let us finish! There were at least two pictures in there that he had actually folded in half in an attempt to hide someone! It was a young girl, and it seemed as though they were close once, but when we were leaving his house, he gave me an unpleasant look!" exclaimed Lincoln.

"I mean, why would he try to hide an image of a friend or a family member?" asked Luan, she was in a rare, unfunny mood.

"Y'know, when we first met him, he said he was the youngest brother, and looking back, there was something unusual about the way he said that," said Lori.

"It seems odd, I mean, he seems really close to his family, talks about them fondly, why would he avoid discussing a particular member," added Lynn Sr.

"Well, perhaps we could talk to him. Just to see if there's something he'd be alright talking to an adult about," suggested Rita.


	3. Chapter 3

Rita (carrying Lily), Lynn Sr. and Lori all walked over to Vincent's house, they came to the front door and Lori knocked. They tried to remain as calm as possible, but they knew that what they were going to talk about probably wouldn't be easy. Beads of sweat formed on their foreheads. Vincent opened the door. He was wearing blue jeans and a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He wasn't smiling.

"The kids spilt the beans on the photo album, didn't they?" he asked. He clearly was not happy, but he didn't seem too angry.

"We just want to know if there's something you'd like to talk about. We like you, we consider you our friend, and if there's something troubling you, maybe we can help," answered Rita. Now Vinny looked sad.

"You guys better come inside," he replied as he led them to the living room. He sat down burying his head into his hands while the four members of the Loud family who were present sat down around him.

"I figured Lincoln and Luan had taken close observance in some of those photos. I'm sorry if I scared them, but the truth of the matter is; yes, that girl was my sister," he explained as he looked back up.

"Was? Did she die? Is that why you don't like to talk about her?" asked Lynn Sr.

"No, I don't like talking about her because the honest truth is, around the time I was in middle school, she became an incredibly unpleasant individual," answered Vincent. Here, Lori, Lynn and Rita's eyes all grew wide.

"She was constantly lying to my parents, and regularly stole food from the pantry. She threw temper tantrums when she was well past the age where that could've been handled. My mother ended up requiring her to write down everything she did during the day, like some required journal, only that was to teach her a lesson. My poor mother, she suffered the worst from my sister."

"As she got older, the conditions only got worse. She misbehaved so much that she actually lost a lot of privileges, such as extracurricular activities. My parents did everything in their power to try and help her, psychiatrists, mental institutions, and military school."

"I tragically had to witness all of it first-hand. I was the one constantly at home, having to help my parents. I envied my brothers who had jobs and their own cars, and didn't really live at home by the time I was in high school. They didn't have to witness it," he said, starting to shake.

"You said you had to help your parents?" asked Lynn Sr.

"Yes. I was the one had to make sure she didn't steal food from the kitchen, by staying down there until my parents came home. I'm not sure I did a good job, I got food from the pantry out of hunger myself but I at least was outright about it. I was always in charge of her, always having to keep an eye on her for my parents, even when she was well past the age where that should have been a requirement. I was the one who had to cover for her, make up an excuse to her friends as to why she wasn't hanging out with them. I once had to turn down a ride from a friend because my mom told me I had to make sure she boarded the bus."

"Hey, I still have to keep an eye on Leni a lot of the time, and she's sixteen. Luna sometimes comes home late, and we all give her a scolding sometimes," said Lori. Vincent just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Have either of them hit your mother in the shoulder? Have any of your siblings caused you to create a temporary splint for either of your parents? Have any of your siblings attempted to steal money from you? Have your parents had to put a latch on the outside of their bedroom doors so they wouldn't sneak out in the middle of the night? Or given you a reason to wish they were never born? Or maybe make you wish something would happen to them so that you'd never have to see them again? Have any of them attempted to run away from home barefoot?" he asked her.

"Well, no, none of them have physically hurt my parents. Granted, all of them have made me at one point or another wish they were never born, but we always find ways to make up. I don't think any of them have attempted to run away barefoot. But our family's not perfect, we once labeled Lincoln as 'bad luck,' and he ended up going through a bad patch, and let's just say it took him nearly collapsing on the beach from heatstroke for us to come to our senses," answered Lori, her parents shuddered at the memory.

"Sheesh, I labeled my sister as a pain in my side. School, Scouts, theatre and the Youth Group became a sanctuary for me, because there I was free from my responsibility of her. I had hoped we could avoid each other in school, but too many people figured out or already knew we were related and my hope was gone," he answered.

"I will never forget this one time when my Philmont crew came home in the middle of the night after traveling by airplane from New Mexico. I got to watch all of my buddies get welcomed back like war heroes by their waiting parents. But my father and I, we didn't see my mother in the welcoming committee. She was standing as far as she could from them. When we finally got sight of her, she wasn't smiling, and she later said she had no tears left. My own mother wouldn't even look at me! She just talked about the hell my sister had put her through while we were gone, and while my brother and my grandmother were both getting surgery!" he then added, he looked understandably angry.

"When was the last time you saw your sister?" Rita asked.

"The last time? It was the first day of school after winter break, specifically my senior year of high school. We were getting ready for school, I was brushing my teeth when I heard my sister scream that she wouldn't go to school. I saw my parents trying to get her to get her act together (again). All I could do was shout that I was heading to the bus stop. And I ran, I just ran to the bus stop and never looked back," he answered, tears were forming in his eyes.

"So that was the last time you saw her?" Lynn Sr. asked, he felt as though he was going to cry as well.

"Unless you count this one time later in the month when my parents had to go to the mental hospital she was staying at. I was left in the waiting room where I read and (if I remember correctly) finished one of the books I had just received for Christmas. That's the last memory I really associate with her. Last I heard, she somehow got in contact with our birth mom's relatives and decided to live with them," he answered.

"Wait, your birth mom?" asked a confused Lori.

"Well, that's another sad story. When I was barely six, my biological mother died in a car accident. About a year later, my dad announced that he was getting remarried. Unfortunately, my biological mother's family and a good number of our neighbors at the time didn't take too well to the news. A lot of them said my father was an evil person and that he was betraying my birth mom's memory. That's why they decided to cut contact with us, and when we moved across town, I was no longer allowed to play with their kids, but most of them weren't good friends anyway," Vinny explained, all of his anger was gone.

"Yeah, my brothers, and a fair number of my relatives, they're legally my stepfamily, but because they've been a part of my life for so long, I don't see them as that," Vinny concluded. Rita walked over to him, sat down beside him and put Lily in his arms.

"Y'know, sometimes being a family doesn't mean you're related. You've clearly had to deal with some heavy things. Your story may not have some happy chapters, but what matters is how you choose to live your life with them, think about the family that does love you, and your good friends," she said putting a comforting arm on his shoulder. Vinny hugged Lily and she gave him one back. Vinny then looked back at the parents and Lori.

"I beg you, please don't tell the rest of your family this. They may not be able to handle it, especially the younger ones. But do tell Lincoln and Luan I'm not angry" The three of them gave their words, gave Vinny a pat on the back and left sadly. When they came home, they saw Luna, Lincoln and the twins playing a board game and Luan was practicing juggling.

"Lincoln, Luan could we have a word really quick?" inquired Lynn Sr. The two siblings he spoke to obeyed. Once they were in private, the parents told them what they felt needed to be heard.

"Alright, we spoke to Mr. Owens, he's not angry with either of you. Just try to understand, that girl you saw in the pictures, whose image he tried to hide; Well, she was just someone who had hurt his family," Rita explained.

"Just don't bring it up with him, he doesn't need another reminder," suggested Lori. The two nodded in understanding before they were dismissed. Lori then hugged her parents.

"I promise, I'll keep looking after my siblings. I don't want us to become estranged," she swore to them.


End file.
